Comparison of the relationship we have with others

Same Place, Different Lifestyles

Communication has always been a vital part of our day to day activities. The culture that individuals are exposed to and practice influences the way a person communicates to one another. I will compare my communication practices with a fellow classmate under three different lenses of study in cultural communication; schemata relationships, greetings, and the relationship we have with others.

Schemata relationships are the past experiences an individual has that develops a framework for future events. My partner and I discussed which gender we prefer to communicate to the best. We both agreed that males are easier to talk to but our reasoning behind our decision was different. Her explanation was that she felt more comfortable around men and she found it easier to talk to them rather women. I agreed with her, mentioning that girls can be moody and hard to talk to sometimes and she felt the same. My reasonings are similar but slightly different. I have always felt a competitiveness with other women and felt I was being judged by them; I think this is because my mom was always really hard on me and compared me to herself a lot. As I’ve gotten older I have become more open to people and have stopped thinking in that way. My partner also agreed with this and she has become more comfortable with both genders as well.

Greetings can vary in numerous different ways especially in the context of culture. My partner explained how her greetings are usually casual. She usually performs them with her family, especially her mother in their suburban Plano home. She also mentioned that her greetings in text messages corrisponde in the same way her verbal ones do. For myself, my greetings tend to vary on situation. With more professional settings, like work, my greetings are well put together, in essence professional. With family and friends, my greetings are more associated with my moods. Most of the time they are highly energetic like a puppy greeting its favorite person, just sporadic. My texts are similar, usually consisting in all caps, emojis and tons of explanation points! In comparison to our greeting styles hers are reserved and casual while mine are energetic.

The way people have relationships with others can depend on a lot of different factors varying from past experience, religion, and where you grew up in. My classmate claimed that she was usually shy when first meeting people. It appears she has a tight regime of friends and it takes a lot of trust to get in her circle. When problems arise she makes an effort to talk it out as friendships hold a lot of value to her and are important. In regards to family, she has a really strong relationship with them, especially her mother, which is important in her household. Believe it or not I’m pretty shy myself, in time i’ve broken my shell a bit and have a lesser fear of people. I have the same values as she does with my friends and I keep a close eye on the ones that are most important to me. On the other hand I have a lot of casual friendships with people that I communicate every now and then but not as much as my best friends. Family life is also very important to me as I try to maintain a loving relationship with them.

My partner and I share a lot of similarities with each other in regards to our lifestyles, but we come from different backgrounds that developed us into who we are. We both lived in suburbs not to far away from each other, hers being Plano and mine being Rockwall. We also grew up in christian homes the only difference is I was raised catholic. We contrast each other in the ways we communicate with people. The differences are reflected by how we think about the subject. To sum everything up, even though we both grew up in similar, ways we communicate differently due to the environments we grew up in. My partner was Kira Reed and we communicated on September 5th verbally.

References:

1. Bretherton, I. (2006, February 13). Communication patterns, internal working models, and the intergenerational transmission of attachment relationships. Retrieved September 28, 2018, from https://onlinelibrary. wiley. com/doi/abs/10. 1002/1097-0355(199023)11: 33. 0. CO; 2-X
2. Planalp, S. (2006, March 17). RELATIONAL SCHEMATA. Retrieved September 27, 2018, from https://onlinelibrary. wiley. com/doi/abs/10. 1111/j. 1468-2958. 1985. tb00064. x